Leading the Conversation the Use of Twitter by School Leaders for Professional Development As Their Careers Progress

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Leading the Conversation the Use of Twitter by School Leaders for Professional Development As Their Careers Progress Leading the conversation The use of Twitter by school leaders for professional development as their careers progress by Timothy James Jefferis A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of Doctor of Education Department of Education University of Birmingham February 2016 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Leading the Conversation Abstract A purposeful sample of 21 school leaders from the UK and abroad were interviewed about their use of Twitter. The Twitter timelines of these respondents were also analysed. The study was framed around four research questions designed to interrogate the issues surrounding senior leaders’ use of Twitter. The data collected pointed towards the growing importance of Twitter as a forum for discussion about a whole gamut of issues related to education and leadership. The research uncovered important ways in which Twitter is being used to supplement, or in some cases replace, traditional modes of professional development. This is seen to have implications for the way leaders’ careers evolve over time. A revised model of leadership career progression is proposed. The revised model provides a conceptual framework for charting social media engagement amongst leaders as their careers progress. By systematising social media engagement in this way, the study makes an important contribution to the corpus of knowledge that already exists in relation to social media use in educational settings. Practical implications include, amongst other things, suggested changes to the professional development of leaders and a call to greater awareness of social media amongst leaders themselves. Abstract word count: 194 i Leading the Conversation I had (and still have) a dream that the Web could be less of a television channel and more of an interactive sea of shared knowledge. I imagine it immersing us as a warm, friendly environment made of the things we and our friends have seen, heard, believe, or have figured out. I would like it to bring our friends and colleagues closer, in that by working on this knowledge together we can come to better understandings (Berners Lee, 1995, online). ii Leading the Conversation Acknowledgements My grandfather died in 2004 and, as is the way with these things, his belongings were farmed off to various members of the family. He had been a teacher for most of his adult life. Given that I was a grandson earning a living from the same profession someone saw fit to pass on to me his copy of ‘Delusions of Grandeur’ by John Rae. I had no idea who Rae was at the time – his career having ended more than a decade before mine began. But I read his autobiography with interest nonetheless. In an early chapter Rae recounts his decision to study for a doctorate in order to help him stand out from the crowd as he cast around for headships. Following Rae’s example, I came to think I ought to do the same thing. The enterprise has been exhausting and rewarding in equal measure. It has dragged on a little longer than I might have hoped, and it might have dragged on longer still had it not been for the spur my ambitious and hard-working sister provided in finishing hers first. I have spent far longer than is healthy in front of a computer screen, all on my own. But the support given to me vicariously by the other EdD researchers I’ve met on Twitter has been immense – not least in providing constant (and distracting!) reassurance that I was not alone. My supervisor, Tom Bisschoff, has kept me on the straight and narrow with well-timed prods via e-mail, goading me to greater action. Similarly the detailed critiques provided by Michael McLinden have been invaluable in helping me refine my writing. Most significant of all though the calm, reassuring words of Chris Rhodes – now sadly retired – have been my constant companion: ‘How do you eat an elephant? Bit, by bit, by bit…’ My wife, Jo, and my children, Ruth and Jacob, have had to contend with a detached and too-often-absent father for close to five years. Wherever this enterprise takes me next I plan to spend more time with them and less time in front of a screen. But I will not forget what I’ve learnt. And Twitter - or whatever social network supersedes it - will be an integral part of my professional life from now on. It is significant that, as things drew to a close, @jillberry102, a loyal Twitter friend, took it upon herself to read the whole thesis. She then spent a good two hours with me on the ‘phone pointing out typos. Thank you, Jill. I have made fantastic discoveries, new friends and, above all, become a better teacher because of it. I owe Dorsey, Williams, Stone and Glass more than they will ever know. Tim Jefferis Oswestry May 2016 iii Leading the Conversation Table of Contents Table of Contents .............................................................................................................................................. iv List of Figures .................................................................................................................................................... ix List of Tables ..................................................................................................................................................... xi 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 1 A. Context of the study ................................................................................................................................. 2 B. Antecedents of the study .......................................................................................................................... 8 C. Nomenclature around which the study is based .................................................................................... 12 D. Focus of research .................................................................................................................................... 14 E. Research questions ................................................................................................................................. 15 F. Relevance of research to policy and practice ......................................................................................... 16 G. Structure of the study ............................................................................................................................. 18 H. Executive summary ................................................................................................................................. 19 H.1. Salient points ................................................................................................................................ 19 H.2. Implications................................................................................................................................... 19 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................................. 20 A. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 21 A.1. Structure of the literature review chapter ................................................................................... 21 A.2. Literature review search strategies .............................................................................................. 22 B. An introduction to Twitter ...................................................................................................................... 25 B.1. Definition of terms ........................................................................................................................ 25 B.2. How Twitter works ........................................................................................................................ 27 B.3. Historical background to Twitter .................................................................................................. 29 C. Pre-Web 2.0 models mapping the career arcs of senior leaders in schools ........................................... 34 C.1. The passage to senior leadership – career progress ..................................................................... 34 C.1.1. Career-centric models .............................................................................................................. 35 C.1.2. Life and career models ............................................................................................................. 37 C.1.3. Biographical models ................................................................................................................. 39 C.2. Leadership and professional development................................................................................... 45 iv Leading the Conversation D. Post Web 2.0 career arcs .......................................................................................................................
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